Swampscott, MA Home Insurance: Fisherman’s Beach, Puritan Road and Coastal Homes

By Jon Merwin, Founder and CEO

Home · Flood · Condo · Umbrella · Massachusetts

Swampscott homes range from oceanfront houses on Puritan Road and Phillips Beach to homes on inland streets. Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance is an independent agency licensed in Massachusetts. We insure Swampscott homes from our Portsmouth, NH office by phone, email and online, and shop each one across 40+ carriers. We are New Hampshire’s highest-rated agency on Google, with 1,000+ Google reviews and over 2,000 testimonials across our two offices. Start with Massachusetts homeowners insurance, or keep reading.

Swampscott at a glance

The town’s draft 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan update, prepared by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, describes Swampscott as a 6.7-square-mile town about 15 miles up the coast from Boston, bounded by Marblehead and Salem to the north and Lynn to the south. It lies along a mostly rocky shoreline with five beaches: Phillips Beach, which stretches into Preston Beach; New Ocean House and Whales Beach; Fisherman’s Beach; and part of King’s Beach, which extends into Lynn. The plan describes development as largely residential, with commercial and retail uses along Route 1A near Salem and three villages with neighborhood businesses: Beach Bluff, Phillips Point and Phillips Beach. It puts the 2020 population at 15,209 and reports that about 25.9% of housing units are renter-occupied.

Where you live in Swampscott changes the policy

• Puritan Road, Humphrey Street and the Fish House. The plan names Puritan Road and Humphrey Street, particularly Forbes Square and the Fish House, as a flood area where businesses experience flooding, and says the area is classified in FEMA’s AO zone. Its mitigation list includes public education on utility elevations for Puritan Road residents and identifying Humphrey Street elevation priorities near the Fish House. The town’s 2016 coastal study, summarized in the plan, notes that over the long term, wider flood pathways could open across private properties between Puritan Road and Fisherman’s Beach.
• The Lynn line and King’s Beach. The plan says flooding is particularly a problem at the Lynn/Swampscott line near Humphrey Street, and that during the 1978 storm, boats were needed to get people in and out of the area. It lists evaluating King’s Beach storm surge flooding of an outfall among its mitigation actions.
• Phillips Park, Phillips Beach, Palmer Pond and Preston Beach. The coastal study identified the Phillips Park area, the Phillips Beach and Palmer Pond area and the Preston Beach area as at risk of coastal flooding by 2030, and the King’s Beach area by 2070. The plan lists Palmer Pond drainage improvements and seawall and outfall upgrades at Preston, King’s, Eisman’s and Fishermen’s beaches.
• Atlantic Avenue and Shepherd and Ocean Streets. The plan reports roadway flooding on Atlantic Avenue at the Marblehead line, significant flood damage in the residential area and private beach club at Shepherd and Ocean Streets, and a failed seawall at Blodgett Avenue.
• Inland streets. Away from the shore, the plan notes precipitation-driven flooding in places such as the Burrill Street underpass, the former railroad overpass on Stetson Avenue and backyards along Nason Road. Here, roof age, older-home systems and water backup coverage usually matter most.

Storms, rocks and windows

The plan notes a problem specific to rocky shorelines: in storms, wind and waves can pick up rocks and throw them through windows of buildings along the coast. After the 1991 “No-Name” storm, it says, retaining walls were damaged and gravel washed onto roads. Wind and wind-driven damage is generally a homeowners claim, subject to any named storm deductible. Flooding from storm surge is not.

Flood coverage in Swampscott

A homeowners policy will not pay for rising water, whether it is surge over a seawall, shallow sheet flooding on Humphrey Street or a king tide. Flood is its own policy. The plan notes that FEMA’s flood insurance rate maps for the town were updated in 2025 and that Swampscott updated its floodplain overlay to match. Check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, because a 2025 map change may have moved your zone. Lenders require flood insurance for federally backed mortgages in a special flood hazard area.

• NFIP through Selective. We write National Flood Insurance Program policies through Selective, a Write Your Own carrier. The NFIP covers up to $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents. New policies generally have a 30-day waiting period (see FloodSmart), so buy before storm season, not during it.
• Private flood. When a home costs more than the NFIP building limit to rebuild, or you want coverage the NFIP leaves out, we compare Flow Flood, Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge. Each one decides address by address.
• Elevation certificates. If you have one, send it. If the house has been raised or has flood vents, it can make a real difference in how flood carriers rate it.

More on how flood policies work is in our flood insurance overview.

Hurricane and named storm deductibles: know the dollar figure

Shoreline policies in Massachusetts commonly carry a separate hurricane or named storm deductible. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance puts the usual range at 1% to 5% of insured value. Because it is a percentage, the more your house is insured for, the larger the check after a storm. We convert each option to dollars so you can weigh a lower premium against a bigger deductible. If no standard carrier will write a house, the Massachusetts FAIR Plan is a last resort, and we will put it side by side with any private option.

Larger homes and older houses

Under about $2 million, most of our 40+ carriers are in play. Andover writes up to about $2.25 million in Massachusetts, sometimes higher with underwriting approval. Around $2 million to $3 million, Hanover is among the carriers we compare. Cincinnati and Chubb are similar high-value carriers that compete with each other and write homes at any dwelling limit, so we quote both. Whatever the size, we build the dwelling limit around the cost to rebuild, not the market value, and we look at extended or guaranteed replacement cost where a carrier offers it.

For older homes, we build the replacement estimate around restoration-quality work and add ordinance or law coverage. See coastal Massachusetts high-value home insurance and historic home insurance.

Condos

If you own a condo, your HO-6 covers what the association master policy leaves out, often interior finishes, improvements, belongings, liability and loss assessment. For oceanfront buildings, the master policy’s flood coverage and deductible matter a lot. See Massachusetts condo insurance.

Renters and tenants in Swampscott

If you rent in Swampscott, your landlord’s policy covers the building, not your belongings or your liability. A renters policy covers both, plus extra living costs after a covered loss. We shop renters coverage across our carriers, and Progressive Home is one of them; we use Progressive Home for renters policies only. Landlords who own two- to four-family buildings can see landlord insurance.

Liability, boats and umbrella

Waterfront entertaining, a boat in the harbor and a pool all raise liability exposure. A personal umbrella adds a layer above home, auto and watercraft.

Common coverage gaps we see in Swampscott

• A dwelling limit based on the purchase price or assessed value instead of the cost to rebuild
• No water backup coverage on a house with a finished basement
• Personal property limits that have not kept up with what the household actually owns
• Liability limits on the home and auto that do not line up with an umbrella, or no umbrella at all
• No ordinance or law coverage on an older home that would need code upgrades after a loss
• No flood policy on a home on Puritan Road, Humphrey Street or near a beach seawall
• Utilities and mechanicals in a basement that floods, with no plan to elevate them

Most of these are straightforward to fix once someone reads the declarations pages side by side, and that is the first thing we do in a review.

Before storm season in Swampscott

• Know your hurricane or named storm deductible in dollars, not just as a percentage
• Photograph or video each room so a contents claim is easier to document
• Keep your declarations pages, flood policy and any elevation certificate somewhere you can reach from your phone
• If you are thinking about flood coverage, buy it well ahead of a storm because of the waiting period
• Know whether your home is in the area the town plan says floods near the Fish House and Forbes Square

Buying a home in Swampscott

Start the insurance conversation before you are under contract, not the week of closing. Send us the listing and the inspection report when you have it. The report answers most of what carriers ask: roof age, electrical panel, heating, plumbing and any water in the basement. Near the water, ask who owns and maintains any seawall in front of the property, and request any elevation certificate. We line up the homeowners binder, and a flood binder if you need one, so both are ready for your lender.

How a Swampscott home quote works

• Tell us about the house: address, year built, square footage, roof age and updates to wiring, plumbing and heating.
• Send your current declarations page so we can compare like for like and point out limits that look short.
• We shop the carriers that fit and lay the options out side by side, with the differences in coverage, deductibles and storm terms, not just price.
• You choose, and we handle the switch, including your mortgage company and the effective date, so there is no gap.

Serving Swampscott from Portsmouth, NH

We do not have a Massachusetts office. We insure Swampscott homes from Portsmouth, NH, by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020. Nearby, see our Marblehead, Beverly and Manchester-by-the-Sea pages. Also nearby: our Nahant and Lynn pages.

Sources

• Town of Swampscott, Hazard Mitigation Plan, Draft 2025 Update (MAPC), September 2025
• Massachusetts Division of Insurance, hurricane preparedness
• Massachusetts FAIR Plan
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center
• FloodSmart, buying a flood policy

Get a quote

Tell us about the property and we will compare carriers and follow up with options. Prefer to talk? Call (603) 431-4020.

Frequently asked questions

Do you insure homes in Swampscott, MA?

Yes. We are licensed in Massachusetts and insure Swampscott homes from our Portsmouth, NH office by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020. We do not have a Massachusetts office.

Which parts of Swampscott flood?

The town’s draft hazard mitigation plan names Puritan Road and Humphrey Street (including Forbes Square and the Fish House), the Lynn line near Humphrey Street, Atlantic Avenue at the Marblehead line and the Shepherd and Ocean Streets area, among others. Check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.

Does homeowners insurance cover a flooded basement?

Not from flood. Water backup from sewers, drains or a sump pump is an add-on, and rising or surface water needs a flood policy.

Who writes your NFIP flood policies?

We write NFIP policies through Selective, and we compare private flood from Flow Flood, Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge.

Do you charge fees?

No. We do not charge any fees on any policy we write, including home, condo, renters, auto, flood and umbrella.